Plants all play a part in making wildlife feel at home

5 favourite plants for wildlife

■ Buddleia Everyone calls it the butterfly bush, and for good reason. Those long flower spikes are packed with nectar and watching red admirals, small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies slaking their thirst on a sunny day is one of the gardener’s greatest pleasures.

■ Firethorn Evergreen leaves, creamy spring blossom and autumn berries of red, orange or yellow make pyracantha a valuable plant for gardeners, as well as for birds who will enjoy the autumn food supply and find the thorny stems good protection from predators when they are nesting within the evergreen canopy.

■ Flag iris Planted at the edge of a pool, just into the shallows, flag irises are not only bright and cheery when they flower in late spring and summer, but they are also used by dragonflies as they lower themselves towards the water to lay their eggs at the base of the iris stalks. The new adults, when they emerge, climb up them to open their wings.

■ Ivy Unless it grows thickly among their crowns ivy will do trees no harm. Restrict it to tree trunks and ugly garden walls and you will find it is a valuable roosting site for small birds such as wrens. Its berries, too, are enjoyed – especially by wood pigeons – and it is an egg-laying site for the holly blue butterfly.

■ Yew topiary Supremely decorative but also loved by the birds in my garden who hide within its dense structure in between flights to the bird table for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The perfect plant for the gardener, and the sparrows and bluetits.